Okay, to begin making my point, let's imagine that you are standing in line to get into Disneyland. You just bought your tickets and you're moments away from stepping into the Happiest Place on Earth.
Just as you reach the ticket scanner, your attention is drawn to a most unusual scene taking place at the fence right next to the check-in area. To your utter surprise, a family is scrambling to climb over the fence and get into the park! They don't have any tickets with them and they seem to have no intention of paying for any.
Appalled, you mention something to the security guard. "Excuse me, sir, did you see that family just climb the fence into the park?"
"Oh, don't worry. That happens all the time."
"All the time?" you inquire. "But, what about paying to get in? My whole family has been waiting and saving up to come to Disneyland. And now I come to find out that people just jump the fence to get in?"
"What do you want me to do?" barks the guard. "Go run after them? They're already in the park, it will take hours to find them! There's nothing we can do about it!"
***
This story is a perfect parallel to how I view-you guessed it-illegal immigration.
The only difference is that if anyone actually tried hopping the fence into Disneyland, everyone would be freaking out. Tourists would yell and point fingers, park workers would make a human Wall of China, and security guards would pounce on any freeloader--even ones that attempted to innocently get in with someone else's Season Pass. (Believe me, I know. We didn't have much luck when we tried it.)
So the fact that controlling illegal immigration continues to be an issue of controversy is beyond me. The key word is illegal. But that doesn't seem to phase the government when they allow illegal residents to benefit from nearly all government services--including health care--without paying a dime for it. Does it not occur to legislatures that perhaps one of the keys to helping our health care problems and economic problems would be to STOP feeding, nursing and educating illegal aliens for free and START finding a way to tax them for being here?
Now don't get me wrong. We should -and do- welcome anyone with open arms into America--as long as they are willing to pay the price, learn our laws and agree to follow them. It's really not that difficult.
Wrong, you say! It isn't easy to become an American, you argue! The fee is so high (relative to the kind of money Mexicans have) and the wait is so long. I am very aware of this. I have had several students and friends with illegal parents, cousins, and grandparents. I am pretty sensitive to the needs and desires that Mexicans have to seek a better life. It's awesome that they want to come to America. That is an honor to Americans!
But that doesn't justify illegal activity. It isn't fair for some people to get into Disneyland for free while others scrimp, save and wait to get in. Simply stated, it's immoral.
Which is why I commend Arizona legislatures and Governor Jan Brewer for their recent efforts to crack down on the problem. In case you haven't been paying attention, it's a new law that gives officers the right and requirement to ask any residents for proof of citizenship (including people that are breaking the law or just hanging outside of Home Depot). If the resident cannot give proof, officers can arrest him/her. If the person is found to be an illegal immigrant, action will be taken - deportation and the like.
My reaction: Duh! Is this seriously something we had to make a law about? I thought/hoped officers were already doing this since other countries have been doing this kind of thing for ages. If you've ever been outside of the country, you would know that it is pretty basic to require visitors and citizens to show paperwork at anytime to any government official (i.e. passport, visa, license, etc).
It is amazing to me that many people, including the city of LA and Santa Ana (highly populated by Mexicans) are in outrage over this AZ law. This perplexes me because the people who I think would support this law the most are legal Mexican Americans. They are the people who waited faithfully in line to Disneyland and that paid full price to get in!
My favorite is the argument that this law will legalize racial profiling. First of all, the racial profile already exists--people already think that most Mexicans are illegal. Both the illegals and the American government are to thank for that. I say this with no disrespect toward Mexicans. The profile would exist toward any other nationality that had hundreds of thousands of its citizens seeping into America illegally without any consequences. I mean really.
If anything, this new law will decrease racial profiling. How? Once all the illegals have been found and deported, there won't be anymore illegal Mexicans to racially profile. As a result, everyone can be confident that if they run into a Mexican in AZ, that person is a legal citizen!
What a wonderful thing to have! Confidence that anyone we come in contact with in our country is here legally. I look forward to the day.
Note: All of these ideas/statements are my own, so you don't need to accuse me of watching too much Fox News or something. We haven't had TV for almost two months, and I hated watching Fox News when we did have TV. I have gotten most of my information from NPR, which is more left wing than right.
We also found a dead bird in one of the bathroom ceiling fans! It looked rotted and dusty. It must have gotten sucked into the vent because the fan was installed incorrectly. Instead of sucking air out of the bathroom, it was sucking air into the bathroom. Pretty much the thing sucked.
We feel very blessed and grateful that everything worked out for our good. But it was mostly very stressful and confusing. Here's a few things we learned. For those out there more naive than us, maybe this can help you in the future.
